Keeping Scores
by empty-the-sky
Summary: Amy was annoyed when she found out that Sheldon kept scores on her, but decided not to get mad and told him that she did the same. How would Sheldon react? One-shot set during/after The Matrimonial Metric.


**Greetings, fellow earthlings!**

 **This is a one-shot set during/after The Matrimonial Metric. Rgbcn already posted her take on this topic and she wrote (and drew) so** _ **so**_ **good I almost got discouraged to post this. Apparently, she's also kind she told me to do it anyway.**

 **Here's my story. The longest one-shot I ever wrote by far.**

 **Buckle up!**

 **(Oh, you should read** **Rgbcn** **stories too!)**

 **Sadly, I do not own The Big Bang Theory nor its characters otherwise Amy's birthday is the only day in a year where Sheldon and Amy do _not_ have coitus. You know, because they would be busy doing it every day and they need to rest once a year.**

* * *

" _One point off for you."_

" _What am I being tested for"_

" _Oh, it's not important. But if you don't pass, none of this matters."_

Amy eyed her curiously. "Sheldon, are you keeping points on me?" she asked, frowning.

Sheldon looked a little panicked by her question. Amy suddenly knew the answer even before he answered it. Or, rather, denied it. "No, no! Why would I do that?" Sheldon said quickly. "I was just… I was just joking. Here, bazinga!" he then added his breathy laugh although it did not sound so convincing. If his panicked look and his too quick answer did not give him away, his face sure did. It was twitching so hard like an earthquake.

Amy felt a pang of hurt in her chest. Did that mean if she did not pass, they would not get married? However, knowing Sheldon so well, Amy decided not to get angry. Instead, she decided to play smart. "It's understandable. I keep score on you as well," Amy replied, trying to sound casual.

"Y-you do?" His panic expression turned into confusion.

"Of course. How would I know what to answer when you proposed?"

"Really? How's my score at the moment?" he asked carefully.

"I can't tell you. It's confidential, and frankly pretty personal. Besides, it's not important. You're here now, right?" she replied. "Unless you do something stupid," she added under her breath, but she made sure that he still could hear it.

He did. The panic was so visible on his face although he did not say anything. Amy thought if she went too far but before she could say anything, Sheldon said, "Very well. Shall we order dinner?" He suddenly looked surprisingly calm and looked determined.

Amy decided to just let it go. Besides, she was pretty hungry and it was time for dinner. "Sure."

* * *

"Night," Amy said as she placed a peck on Sheldon's lips.

"Good night," he replied.

Amy adjusted herself on the bed, trying to find a comfortable position. She laid on her side, with her back on Sheldon. As usual, Sheldon was on his back.

They were both silent, trying to sleep until she felt Sheldon moved behind her. The next thing she knew, Sheldon's hand was on her waist. He simply placed his hand there and did not scoot closer to her but Amy knew he was sleeping on his side, facing her. Sheldon was not usually very physical when they were sleeping, unless there was an emergency, like nightmare, storm, anticipation of a nightmare if he just watched a scary movie, or he was in distress.

She could feel his breath on her neck, and while it was ticklish, it was also soothing. Amy found sleep not long after.

* * *

Amy woke up to an empty bed. She could hear vaguely the sound from the kitchen, Sheldon must have been awake. Amy got up and still in her nightgown, got out of the bedroom.

"Morning," Sheldon greeted from the kitchen.

Amy stifled a yawn that was trying to escape, she still felt rather tired. "Morning," she managed to reply. She joined him in the kitchen, leaning herself on the counter.

They engaged in small talks while Sheldon prepared breakfast for both of them. Amy had offered to help but Sheldon told her to relax. So, she just stood there watching him. When Sheldon was finished, they both enjoyed the breakfast in comfortable silence. When they were both done, Sheldon took the empty plates and put them in the sink, then started to wash them.

"Let me do it. You already prepared the meal," Amy offered.

"It's not a big deal. You just get ready for work while I clean up," he replied.

"Okay, thanks. Let me go get ready, I won't be long." Amy remembered that Sheldon had asked her the day before to drive him to work early that morning so it was not surprising that Sheldon was ready when she woke up.

"You take all the time you need. We'll just go to work at our usual time," Sheldon replied as he washed the dishes.

"But, didn't you say you want to go early today because you need to catch up on your work?"

"Yes, but you woke at your usual time and I don't want to disrupt your routine."

"But what about your work?"

"Amy, I have an eidetic memory, I'll be fine," he said. "Just get ready and look pretty."

Sheldon forwent his plan and considered her routine was not something that happened every day so she decided to enjoy it. Although, she made sure to get ready quickly in case he changed his mind. Amy found him sitting on the sofa and playing on his phone when she was done.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

He gave him a big grin. "Since you are ready and looked pretty, yes, I am. Let's go," he said.

Amy frowned at his sudden compliment but did not say anything. She followed him as he opened the apartment door and held it for her until she was out. He was being extremely attentive all morning. He insisted to walk her to her lab when they arrived. He even did not hesitate to kiss her in front of her door, something that Amy had to strong arm him to do because he always said no public display of affection on the workplace, even in their own offices with nobody but them. That was weird, but it was a good kind of weird so she let it go.

* * *

Amy was about to get her purse to grab lunch when familiar knocks were heard on her door.

"Sheldon, what are you doing? You're not having lunch with the guys as usual?" Amy asked.

"Well, I thought I'd stop by to see how's my fiancée doing and bring her lunch," Sheldon replied as he lifted the two brown paper bags in his left hand.

"That's very nice of you. I was actually about to get something from the vending machine."

"Amy, you know those are not real food. Here, have this. We'll eat together," he said, handing one bag to her.

"Aww, thank you." Amy was so touched she felt like kissing him. She decided to take a risk especially since he was being extremely sweet to her today. To her surprise, he did not complain. In fact, he gave him a smile afterward.

* * *

"Are you ready to go home?"

Sheldon's voice brought Amy back to reality. He stood on her door with his shoulder bag, ready to go home. She looked at her watch and realized that it was already five pm. She was too focus in her work she did not notice the time.

"Actually, I still need to finish this up. Can you ask Leonard to drive you home?" Amy said.

"How long would it take?" he asked back.

"Around thirty minutes. An hour top," she replied.

"That's okay. I'll just wait here."

"Are you sure?" Amy herself was not sure. She was actually hoping Sheldon would go home with Leonard. It was not that she did not enjoy his company, she just did not want him to blame her and say that he had waited for her when his schedule somehow was disrupted later.

"I am. And I have my phone with me, I can keep myself occupied. Unless you want to talk to me while working," he replied surely.

"Okay. Just promise me you won't bring this up in the future and brag about how much time you have sacrificed for me, okay?"

"I promise."

True to his words, Sheldon was silent the whole time Amy almost forgot that he was in the room and she managed to finish her work quickly. He smiled when she was finished and offered to help her tidying her desk, which she gladly accepted. He acted as if everything was fine and he did not just wait almost an hour which normally would cause him to throw a tantrum. Not a single complaint came out of his mouth during the drive home.

* * *

Sheldon and Amy were relaxing on the couch after dinner. The television was on and they were watching some science fiction show—or Sheldon was. Amy was just looking at the television blankly. She was bored, and after a long day at work, she felt like she deserved to reward herself. But watching a television show that she had no interest in, was not it.

Amy did not realize that she was sighing audibly when Sheldon said, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just… bored, I guess. I don't really want to watch this show," she replied. She no longer had problems telling her opinion on things she did not enjoy despite Sheldon loving them so much.

"Do you want to watch anything else?" he asked.

His response caused her to eye him curiously. Usually, he was not that easily giving up to change the channel and offer to watch something else—especially not when the show was still on. Still, Amy replied, "Um, it's okay. I'm not really in the mood to watch anything. Maybe I'll just finish the book I'm currently reading, it's only a few chapters left."

Sheldon nodded then continued watching. After thirty seconds, he looked at her and asked, "I thought you said you want to read?"

"Yeah, but I'm too comfortable to get up and get the book," she replied lazily. She thought she could soldier through the evening until it was time for bed.

Sheldon tilted his head and asked, "Is the book the one on your nightstand?"

"Uh-huh."

Suddenly, Sheldon stood and went to the bedroom. Amy thought he went to the bathroom, which was unusual since he only did it during the commercial break. He was in there for a while but not to go to the bathroom since Amy did not hear the water flushed. Amy was surprised when he handed her the book without saying anything and then continued watching as if nothing happened.

"Thank you," she mumbled. He only looked at her briefly and nodded.

Amy decided to just read the book. At some point, she leaned on him when reading and he must have adjusted his position and they ended up snuggling on the couch. Amy only realized it once she finished the book. She looked at the television and saw that the show was over and the news was on with the volume turned down. Sheldon was staring at the screen and absentmindedly brushing her hair with his fingers.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Almost midnight," he replied, still brushing her hair.

"It's past our bedtime."

"Yeah, but it's Friday. We don't have to work tomorrow. Besides, you were so engrossed in your book I didn't want to disturb you."

"Shall we go to sleep now?"

"Alright."

* * *

It was a lazy Saturday morning in 4B. Sheldon and Amy stayed up late the night before and when they both were awake, they did not bother to quickly get up.

"What is your plan today?" Sheldon asked. They were just laying on the bed, still on their pajamas.

"Penny promised to bring her bridal magazines this afternoon. Maybe we will look for some inspiration for my wedding gown," Amy replied. "I'm sorry you can't join us though. You know it's bad luck for the groom to see the dress before the wedding."

"I believe I won't enjoy it anyway," he said understandingly. "I thought you don't believe in superstitious nonsense?"

"I don't. It's more like a tradition, I think. But I don't really care if you see it beforehand."

"Noted." Sheldon adjusted his position to lay on his side. "Maybe we can have a date night later in the evening? We're so busy planning the wedding lately. We haven't spent time together without talking about it."

"That sounds lovely actually."

"Perfect." Sheldon got out of the bed and walked to the bathroom. "Oh, and I think you would look amazing in whatever wedding dress you choose," he said as he entered the bathroom, making Amy blushed.

The morning routine went normal and natural, but Amy still thought it was very nice. She could not help but smiled the whole time she took a shower—if that was how it felt to be married to Sheldon Cooper, she could not wait to do that. When Amy finished putting on her clothes and entered the living room, she saw Sheldon already on the sofa with her laptop in front of him. His Vulcan hearing did not fail to notice her entering the room.

"Hello. I'm borrowing your laptop to preorder a new game that would be released next month. I hope it's alright," he told her,

"That's okay," Amy replied, taking a seat next to him.

"Amy, for our date tonight, I was thinking we can go to a nice place for dinner and then later to the movies."

"It works for me."

"Good. Please pick a movie you want to watch so that I can order the ticket online," he said as he typed the website on the browser.

Amy looked at the site and examined the posters of various movie posters displayed. "Isn't this the movie you're so excited about?" she asked, pointing at a poster which definitely was a science fiction movie.

"Yes, but I can watch it later with the guys. What do _you_ want to watch?" he said, dismissing her.

Amy was not used to Sheldon letting her choose what to watch, especially not when there was a movie he clearly wanted to watch. He would usually just order the tickets without asking her opinion. Amy started to get suspicious but she needed to make sure. "I want to watch this." She pointed at the picture of a movie poster, testing him.

"Oh, I never heard of this movie. What is it about?" he asked, examining the tiny blue poster on the screen.

"It's a musical romance," she replied casually.

"Mu-musical romance?" he stammered.

"Yes."

"And you are sure you want to watch it?"

"Yes," she replied, did not bat an eye.

"Very well. I will order the tickets," he said as he did so.

Okay, that was suspicious, Amy thought.

* * *

"Do you remember when you said you were sure Paula's boyfriend is cheating on her because he suddenly acted nicer to her?"

"Yeah. Why?" Penny replied, looking at the magazine on her hand. Bernadette's doctor's recommendation to have a bed rest for a few days causing them to spend the time that afternoon without her. They were hanging out at 4A seeing bride's magazine for Sheldon and Amy's wedding.

"Sheldon is being extremely and weirdly nice to me lately."

"Sweetie, he's not cheating on you. Trust me," Penny replied, casually flipping the pages of a magazine.

"I know that. It's just so weird, you know. He did not scold me when I forgot to separate the clothes due to their colors a couple days ago," Amy said.

"Well, he enjoyed doing the laundry."

"Last night, I muttered I want to read but was too lazy to go to the bedroom to get the book, he stood and got the book from me without even saying anything."

"Maybe he wanted to get something from the room as well."

"It's possible. It did take him some time to get the book," she replied. "But this morning, he told me to have a spontaneous date night and let me to pick the movie. He let me choose the movie _I_ want to watch even though there's this science fiction movie I know he wants to watch since the trailer came out."

"Okay. There's definitely something wrong with him. Do you think he did something stupid and feel guilty about it?" Penny said, focusing completely on Amy. Finally, something interesting happened in her bestie's love life. Amy only had sex—or in Sheldon's term, coitus—once a year on her birthday, and he made her sign a disclosure agreement so Amy could not share her juicy details to her. Pfftt, boring, Penny thought.

"I don't know. On one hand, I enjoyed the attention so much. It feels so nice. But, on the other hand, I couldn't help but feel suspicious," Amy admitted.

"Yeah, Sheldon's only nice when he wants something."

"Well, not always. I mean, he can be nice too," Amy felt the need to defend her fiancé.

"Of course, you'd say that you love him," Penny scoffed.

"Of course, I love him. That's why I agree to marry him."

"Yeah, I still don't understand. You can do so much better." Amy only rolled her eyes at Penny's statement.

* * *

Even though his hand was holding the phone, Sheldon's eyes were looking around to Amy's office the whole time. Searching. Then, his gaze fell on her. She was too engrossed in her work to notice everything else. There was something mesmerizing about watching her in the zone. How her brows frowned and her lips pursed when she was in deep thought, how she scratched her hair, messing with the low ponytail—she looked very beautiful he could spend the rest of his life just watching her. Sheldon shook the thought. He was a man on a mission.

He sneaked glances at her notes and paid attention at her office to see what he was looking for. When Amy was done, Sheldon offered to help her arrange the papers and files on her desk. He skimmed the notes and papers while tidying up her desk but did not find what he was looking for.

Despite his fail mission, at least he got to enjoy watching Amy working, so it was not all that bad, he thought. He could try again later when they got home.

* * *

Amy's nightstand was always neat and tidy. There was only the nightlamp, the brain scan he gave for her birthday, the lotion she used every night, and the book she was reading on it. Sheldon opened the drawer underneath to check if she had hidden something in it. Nothing. He checked under her pillow, nothing. He carefully opened the wardrobe and checked the pile of her clothes, nothing. He opened the drawer inside the wardrobe where she kept her undergarments and tights, nothing. Oh, look, there was a matching set of red bra and panties he had never seen before. Maybe he could ask her to wear them next time. _Focus Cooper!_ He scolded himself. He quickly scanned the room. Did not find what he was looking for, Sheldon grabbed the book on Amy's nightstand and got out of the room.

* * *

Works. Videos of monkeys. Pictures. Fanfictions. Wedding ideas. Another video of monkeys.

Nothing.

Like him, Amy was very organized, so he knew that she would not save the file on some random folder on her laptop. She was not that kind of person. After could not find what he was looking for in her office and their apartment, Sheldon thought maybe she kept it in the digital form. Alas, he still could not find it. She must have kept the record somewhere, he just needed to find it.

His ears caught Amy's light steps from the bedroom. She would exit the bedroom and joined him in a moment. With a heavy sigh, Sheldon closed the folder tab on her laptop and clicked on the browser, showing the page of the preorder status of a game he was not really interested in.

* * *

Sheldon and Amy returned to their apartment after the date night. They had a lovely dinner at a lovely restaurant and enjoyed the movie she picked. Even Sheldon. He tried to discreetly wipe the tears on his face at the end of the movie. But Amy caught him in the act. She just handed him a tissue without saying anything. She, too, had tears on her face.

The date night ran smoothly. Too smooth, Amy thought. Other than the fact that Sheldon ended up loving the movie, he was on his best behavior the entire evening. He did not try to lecture the waitress, he did not complain when there were no red vines at the cinema, he let her hold her hand during the movie without his usual complain, and he did not even try to monopolize the conversation and let her talk most of the time.

"I must say, Amy, I had a lovely night," Sheldon said as they entered the apartment.

"Uh-huh. Me too," Amy responded half-heartedly.

Apparently, Sheldon sensed it. "What's wrong? You didn't enjoy it?" he asked.

"No, no. I enjoyed it. So much. It was so nice and you're being lovely and sweet."

"Then why you don't sound happy?"

"I _am_ happy. I just can't help feeling that you have an ulterior motive." There, she finally said it.

"What?"

"Sheldon, you're being extremely nice and attentive and sweet and caring these past few days." He looked taken aback so Amy tried to rephrase her words. "I'm not saying that you're not capable of being like that, because you already are. But the Sheldon I know wouldn't act like that willy-nilly," she added softly.

"Okay, fine. I do have an ulterior motive, Amy," he said.

It was Amy's turn to be surprised. Mostly because she actually did not want to hear Sheldon saying that. She realized she wanted Sheldon to act like that just because he wanted to because he loved her. Amy knew he loved her, he just had his own way to show it.

Sheldon took a deep breath trying to find the courage and the right words. "I did it to increase my points," he admitted sheepishly.

"What do you mean?"

"When we were testing our friends and comparing their points to decide who will be the best man and maid of honor, you said you're keeping score on me."

"Oh." To be honest, Amy had already forgotten about it.

"I've tried to look for your notes on my scores but didn't find it. Not in your office, under your pillow, in your laptop, and everywhere in this apartment. I even searched in your drawer. Which reminds me, I need to see you in that new matching set of red bra and panties. But I couldn't find it anywhere. I need to know my points, Amy," he rambled, wandering around the room.

"Do you _really_ keep points on me, Sheldon?" Amy asked quietly. "Because I was just kidding when I said that I keep points on you as well."

He stopped dead in his track. He looked at her and saw the hurt in her eyes. He decided telling her the truth was his best option. "I admit that when we were testing our friends, I tried to conduct the test on you as well. But it only lasted a couple days. Our friends' reaction made me realized that what we did to them was hurtful. And I would never want to hurt you in any way, so I stopped." He stepped closer to her and reached her hand. Thankfully, Amy let him.

"If it makes you feel any better, you got a very high point from the very first day. You're always so kind to me and very understanding. And don't get me started on the plain oatmeal you prepared perfectly for me. I even added your points simply because you looked pretty that day," he added.

A small chuckle escaped her lips. "What makes you think I would really conduct the experiment on you? We did that on our friends because we were having difficulties in deciding who was suitable for the position because they are equally good friends. But, you," Amy said, lightly touching his chest. "You are the only one for me, Sheldon. There's no contest for that."

"So, I'm not on probation?" Sheldon asked, still curious.

"No, you passed the test."

"That's a relief." Sheldon exhaled the breath he was holding

"Although, I don't mind you being all nice and caring like that, it feels… nice," Amy said.

"This is exactly why I felt insecure when you said you were keeping points on me, I wouldn't even surprised if you really do. I realize I don't always treat you nicely, that I'm selfish and childish. It's pretty understandable if you're reconsidering your choice. That's why I needed to know my scores. I needed to make sure you would still marry me," he confessed.

"Oh, Sheldon! You might have your quirks, but I love you for that," she replied, assuring him.

"Good. Because I love you too."

They grinned at each other, and as if on cue, placed a light kiss on each other's lips.

"So, about the red bra and underwear you said earlier, what if I tell you that I'm wearing them right now," Amy said seductively as she detached herself from him and slowly walked to the bedroom.

Sheldon gulped and fixated on his place watching her.

Amy was already in front of their bedroom's door when she looked back and talked to him sweetly, "Didn't you say you want to see it, Dr. Cooper?"

Sheldon quickly ran after her.

* * *

 **A/N: It's been so long since I last posted a story. Life has been crazy lately it's so hard to find the time and motivation to write. Hope you're still interested to read my story and it motivates you to do things you need and want and love to do. And, be kind.**


End file.
